


Sparks in the Dark

by fairytaleweaver



Category: Tales of Vesperia
Genre: Cute, Established Relationship, F/M, MMMMM I LOVE ME DOMESTIC CUTE, also i have a thing for fireplaces apparently huh, and storms, goofs, i like COMFY apparently
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-16
Updated: 2018-09-16
Packaged: 2019-07-13 05:28:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16011230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fairytaleweaver/pseuds/fairytaleweaver
Summary: A storm blows out all the lights while Estelle's trying to work. While trying to get some light ready, she and Yuri get a little distracted.





	Sparks in the Dark

**Author's Note:**

> written for Yustelle Week

There were several things Estelle planned to do tonight- outline her speeches, respond to Ioder's letters, draft a new proposition for this years budget- but stumbling through her own home in the dark had not been one of them.

The sound of heavy rain and sleet outside was particularly loud in this room- she had left a few windows open before she went to her study.... okay, most of the windows open. Which is probably how one good gust of wind from the oncoming storm had extinguished all the lights and knocked over her oil lamp.

She'll have to clean that up come morning.

Her thin white nightdress she wore for the evening did little to keep her warm, with so many windows open and a storm outside she certainly felt the chill in the air.  
But regardless, she still has work to do, Yuri still has work to do. So here they are, wandering their home in the dark of night.

A sudden yelp from her left and she turns towards the sound even though she can't see a thing.

"You okay?" She calls out to the darkness, hands reaching out as her feet disturb something on the floor. It's soft, so it must be the rug underneath the coffee table and the lounge. The lounge, coffee table, and rug that they had purchased together rather recently as a wedding present to themselves.

"Yeah, stubbed my toe on the corner of the coffee table." Yuri's voice comes out like a hiss and a telltale creak tells her he's leaned back into the lounge.

"Oh, ouch. Do you want me to kiss it better?" Estelle giggles, slowly moving forward until she feels the wood of the coffee table hit her against the thigh. She knows Yuri is in front of her, but there's no light from outside even to help her track him down.

"You know my feet are ticklish, Estelle, so I can't recommend it," Yuri warns, shifting his weight on the lounge from the sound of it. He must be right in front of her if only she could see him.

"I absolutely must kiss it better." She put on her most determined expression, staring intently at where she knew Yuri to be. Yuri, for some reason, laughs.

A flash of lightning from the storm outside briefly illuminates their living room and Estelle finds that she's staring at an empty section of the lounge and that Yuri and his shit eating grin are actually a little to the left.

"Good luck finding me in the dark." Yuri chuckles, rising to his feet as the light from the lightning fades and a deep roll of thunder conceals the noise of his movement. She realizes she'll lose sight of him completely if she doesn't act soon.

She lunges across the coffee table, banging her knee on the surface as she collides with the lounge, missing Yuri by a good foot or so. He chuckles again but it doesn't help, she has no idea where he's gone- but she can hear him moving in the dark- probably close to the wall.

"...can you see me?" She pants, narrowing her eyes as she peers into the dark.

"Yeah. Kind of." Yuri's voice comes from the right this time, closer to the kitchen door to her right. She turns to face that direction, but she doubts Yuri's still over there.

"It's the nightdress isn't it?" She huffs, indignant that he escaped her.

"Maybe." He sounds amused-its most definitely the nightdress.

"When I get my hands on you...." It comes out like less of a threat and more like a promise- either way, she means it.

"Well, better find the tinderbox then." Yuri laughs now from inside the kitchen, she can tell by the slight echo. He must be looking for the tinderbox. She should probably make her way back to the fireplace and get it ready for him.

"Awfully prompt of you. If I didn't know better I think you want me to get my hands on you." She teases as she carefully gets back on her feet, reaching out to grab the coffee table so she too wouldn't bump into it.

"Depends on what you mean by that, but I'm not entirely against the idea. After we warm up a bit tho, it's cold in here." The sound of a drawer opening and closing accompanies his statement and the sound of footsteps on the wood coming back towards the living room tell her he must have found the tinderbox.

"Oh- we should probably close the windows too." She suppresses a shiver as she says this, its gotten much colder than it had been when she had opened the windows and she's regretting her current choice of dress. She's navigated around the demon coffee table and she knows she has a straight shot to the fireplace from here.

"You left windows open? Estelle, it's cold out." Yuri sighs.

"Yes, and the house was stuffy and stale. We needed fresh air." Estelle responds promptly as her shin lightly brushes against something cold and hard- she must have made it to the hearth. She gropes around, her hand closing in on the fireplace grate and disturbing ash from spirits knows how long ago.

She should really clean that in the morning.

"That's why it's freezing in here." Yuri's whispers into her ear and Estelle nearly jumps her skin. He laughs a little, his hair spilling down onto her shoulder. Spirits, he's sneaky.

"Don't worry, I'll warm you up." Estelle turns to look over her shoulder, posing, her voice low and sultry.

"Well, I'd better hurry up and close up the house then, huh?" Yuri chuckles, dropping the tinderbox onto her lap and planting a kiss onto the side of her head. A pleasant, gentle warmth blossoms in her chest and on her cheeks. Then she feels him leave her and she suppresses an urge to grab him.

"If you'd like. Oh- and don't worry, I hadn't opened anything upstairs yet." She adds as she reaches into the firewood rack where they keep the kindling. Recently, she's been using the copious amounts of letters she'd received from nobles after her and Yuri's wedding. They didn't dare tell her what to do- but instead, they had gone from the political angle and tried to present their cases as more political concerns instead of just straight up classism.

Anyway, the perfumes and high-quality papers made an excellent fire starter.

While she's working on getting a fire going, she can hear Yuri moving around the living room and kitchen, closing all the open windows.

After a few tries on her end, she watches in delight as a match finally lights up one of the letters. She quickly grabs some of the dry bark and twigs she'd stored with the letters and begins to properly build up the fire. Within five to ten minutes, she's managed to get a decent flame going, and feels safe enough to throw a smaller log onto the grate.

She turns around, the heat from the fireplace too warm to stay beside it any longer- to see her husband settled on the lounge. The windows behind him closed- but beyond them, she can now see the fierce rains coming down in sheets- wind twisting the trees outside.

She makes her way to the lounge and plops down beside Yuri. On the coffee table, her work and inkwell placed beside his work- and two steaming mugs of cider.

"Oh, thank you, Yuri."

"Don't mention it." He responds easily, leaning down to go over whatever guild paperwork Karol forced him to take. From the look of it, it seemed more like some sort of guideline- perhaps new rules or regulations that they needed to abide by due to the guild headquarters being built in Dahngrest.

"But I was so excited to get my hands on you." She whines, leaning against him.

"If we start now we won't get any work done." Yuri sighs, flipping through the papers in front of him but clearly not really reading them.

"Yes..." She pouts, slipping her hand onto Yuri's forearm and nuzzling her head against his shoulder.

"And Ioder needs your new proposition soon, doesn't he?" Yuri prods playfully in return, leaning down to plant another kiss on her head. She angles her face upwards at him, in response, bringing out her most pathetic puppy dog eyes.

"Yes..."

There's a moment of silence.

"Alright, finish your letter and your proposition and then we'll goof around." Yuri sighs, clearly knowing when he's defeated. Estelle perks right up as he reaches over to his mug of cider and brings it to his lips to blow on it.

"Look at you being all responsible." Estelle smiles, suddenly content as she straightens up and turns to her half-finished work. Besides her, Yuri takes a sip of the cider and immediately recoils, face contorted in pain. The cider must still be piping hot.

"If we had done this right when we got home when we planned to this wouldn't be an issue." Yuri murmurs, setting his drink down again and picking up his papers once more- seemingly actually reading them this time.

"Hey, I waited until you were inside." She retorts as she skims over Ioders letters to refresh her memory. Yuri, besides her, chuckles quietly.

"I still think the neighbors heard everything."

"A free show, then." Estelle promptly counters, unabashed. She dips her quill pen into the inkwell and begins to finish the final draft of her proposition. After this, she'll just need to finish the attached letter and have it sent come morning.

"So we're the entertainment now." Yuri tries and fails not to laugh as he finally finishes one page of the regulations packet from beside her.

"I think we've always been the entertainment." Estelle giggles.

"Hm. Can't argue that."

The storm continues to rage outside and the darkness of the night lingers in the shadows of the room. But the two of them, cast in the warmth and the light of the fire bunker down for the evening to finish their obligations. There will be time for play after.

A few sparks land on the hearth and fizzle out to ashes.


End file.
